Mumbai: Parminder Singh, arrested by the directorate of revenue intelligence (DRI) for smuggling branded Swiss watches and white gold in an Air India aircraft toilet last month, faces more charges. Now, DRI wants Air India to take action against him for damaging the aircraft's roof panel.
Singh was caught by the DRI on April 15, when he arrived by a domestic flight from Delhi. Officers recovered 21 packets of chemicals used for cancer treatment, 60 white gold finger rings and 20 diamond-studded Franck Muller watches from him.
The DRI officials also found him carrying spoons and knives. Sources said he would return from abroad by hiding contraband in the aircraft toilet. "He would pretend to go to the toilet, break open electrical sockets or roof panels of the aircraft, using forks and knives, hide the contraband there, and walk through the green channel without fear. He would then wait for that aircraft to come into operation in the domestic sector. Once he knew the flight's detailed schedule, he would book a domestic flight to any destination. On the flight, he would open the panel of the aircraft toilet where he had hidden the contraband and then walk out with it," an officer said.
The DRI officials said that he may have damaged the aircraft while opening and closing the sockets with spoons and knives. "We fear the accused may have tampered with the structure of the aircraft to conceal the goods, and while doing so, he was endangering the lives of several co-passengers," said public prosecutor Francis Saldana, while opposing Singh's bail.
16/05/11 S Ahmed Ali/Times of India
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